2008 veg

We just heard that the allotment site we were working last year has been let in its entirety to a local charity working with disabled people. Which is really good news, it is much too good a resource to be wasted.

Meantime, we've been converting our back garden into a vegetable patch, on the basis that if it is under our noses, we've a better chance of actually being able to keep an eye on it. We also bought seedlings rather than seed, as we're rubbish at bringing on plants.

So, we have a few tomato plants in buckets, strawberries in pots, herbs and spring onions in hanging baskets. We also have some potatoes in black dustbins (which I'm told is a good way to grow them).

In the ground, we have cauliflower, cabbages, rhubarb, lettuce and more herbs. We still have to find space for aubergine, sunflower and a couple of bean plants. We also have a few marrow seeds to try. We have also plumbed in a water butt to the drains from the garage, to preserve water. It hasn't rained in a while, but when it did, I was amazed at how quickly it filled up.

We've also been working hard on slug defence, which is including used coffee grains, coke traps and eggshells. So far so good, no sign of any slugs.